Restoration Hardware

When you get engaged, everybody tells you how much fun registry shopping is. I’m still waiting for the fun part. Just kidding. The fun part was doing our Amazon Registry, which had all of the cool kitchen gadgets that I wanted. When someone bought us something on that, I got really excited. I was a little bit less excited about our registries at Simon Pearce, Bloomingdale’s, and Restoration Hardware. I’m very grateful to everyone who bought us a gift from those registries, but a blowtorch is way better than a water pitcher in my book. Now let’s go back to that last place we registered: Restoration Hardware. That ended up being our least popular registry (in terms of % completed), which is surprising when you consider that the Corte Madera, CA “home furnishings retailer” made the Inc. 5000 with 91% three-year growth to $1.2 billion in revenue. While that growth rate is lower than what we’re accustomed to, we can make an excuse for a company that passed the billion dollar mark (and is no longer eligible for the list now that they have IPOed).

Restore Your Faith

Despite my hatred for retail shopping, I’ve been in more than a few Restoration Hardware stores. I like them because I can always find a comfortable place to sit, and there’s always something to play with. (How old am I?) Restoration Hardware’s website says that they offer “furniture, lighting, textiles, bathware, décor, outdoor and garden, as well as baby & child products.” The latter are clearly to keep people like me entertained while their guardians shop. Restoration Hardware considers itself a “curator of the finest historical design the world has to offer,” and that’s why their product lines come together as a collection “of timeless, updated classics and authentic reproductions.” They call their stores “galleries,” and they have 74 of them along with 13 outlets (they also have an online store and send out massive catalogs). Just stepping into a “gallery” will give you an instant sense for the brand’s image, so I highly recommend that you do that before checking out the company’s Careers page. I’m only going to highlight the Corporate positions that stand out, but there are also retail, customer service, and distribution opportunities available.